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Title: Ruby Roland, the Girl Spy
or, Simon Kenton's Protege
Author: Frederick Whittaker
Release Date: February 21, 2018 [EBook #56620]
Language: English
Character set encoding: UTF-8
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Transcriber’s Notes:
The Table of Contents was created by the transcriber and placed in the public domain.
Additional Transcriber’s Notes are at the end.
CONTENTS
Chapter I. The Ranger’s Ruse.
Chapter II. The Island.
Chapter III. The Meeting.
Chapter IV. Ruby Roland.
Chapter V. The Journey.
Chapter VI. Danger All Round.
Chapter VII. On the Line.
Chapter VIII. The Backwoods Leader.
Chapter IX. The Secret Expedition.
Chapter X. A Frontier Camp.
Chapter XI. The Secret Disclosed.
Chapter XII. Kaskaskia.
Chapter XIII. The Fort.
Chapter XIV. The Surprise.
Chapter XV. The Algonquin Venus.
Chapter XVI. Ruby’s Visit.
Chapter XVII. The Cure’s Embassy.
Chapter XVIII. The Last Mass.
Chapter XIX. The Lampoon.
Chapter XX. Mutiny.
Chapter XXI. Ruby’s Mission.
Chapter XXII. The Council of War.
Chapter XXIII. The Discovery.
Chapter XXIV. Conclusion.
Semi-Monthly Novels Series,
No. 282.
BEADLE’S
DIME NOVELS
Cover illustration.
RUBY ROLAND, THE GIRL SPY.
BEADLE AND ADAMS, 98 WILLIAM STREET, NEW YORK.
New England News Co., Boston, Mass.
A TALE OF THE LONG TRAIL.
THE OLD RED RIVER TRAIL
In the next issue of the “Household and Fireside Guest” series
Beadle’s Dime Novels, No. 283
Ready Tuesday, June 3, lovers of the Romance of the Wilderness and Plains have a story that will enlist their attention
to an unusual degree, viz.:
THE LONE CHIEF;
OR,
The Trappers of the Saskatchewan.
BY JOS. E. BADGER, JR.
The Lone Chief is the noted Omaha “Blackbird,” who takes the long trail to the far Saskatchewan in pursuit of an
object which sustains him in hours of awful trial, and awakens our warmest admiration.
His unexpected friends—a band of trappers—become involved with him in the meshes of a conflict with the fierce
Crees of the Plains.
The old trapper, Ben Duncan, a second edition of Old Nick Whiffles, is a splendid character, equally handy in
scrimmage, on the trail, in the camp, or at a yarn.
That there are women in the case does not lessen the interest taken in the Chief’s affairs by the two younger members
of Old Duncan’s party, who, even in that remote region, find that the course of true love never runs smooth.
A strangely beautiful Cree girl is drawn into the foreground of the story to become its heroine and—something else!
☞ Beadle’s Dime Novels are always kept in print and for sale by all newsdealers; or are sent, post-paid, to any
address on receipt of price—Ten Cents each—by
BEADLE AND ADAMS, Publishers,
98 William Street, New York.
Title page.
RUBY ROLAND,
THE GIRL SPY;
OR,
SIMON KENTON’S PROTEGE.
BY FREDERICK WHITTAKER,
Author of “Mustang-Hunters,” “White Wizard,” “Jaguar Queen,” “Boone, the Hunter,” etc.
NEW YORK:
BEADLE AND ADAMS, PUBLISHERS,
98 WILLIAM STREET.
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1873, by
BEADLE AND ADAMS,
In the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.
(No. 282.)
RUBY ROLAND,
THE GIRL SPY.
CHAPTER I.
THE RANGER’S RUSE.
A tall, muscular young fellow, dressed in hunter garb, came silently out of the woods from the north side of the
Kentucky river, about a hundred years ago, and pausing by the bole of a gigantic beech tree, scanned the opposite
shore with keen, silent attention.
There was a peculiar air of resolute fearless deviltry in the face of the young hunter, coupled with the piercing, roving
glances of his intensely black eyes, that showed he was no novice to the trade of hunter and scout. He was in the midst
of the hunting-grounds of Shawnee and Delaware, miles away from the then infant settlement of Boonesborough; and he
was all alone with his rifle and knife, to take care of himself.
The look of his face abundantly evinced that he felt quite equal to the task, and only the acquired caution of his craft
kept him from wading boldly into the river at once.
But as it was, he had learned the lesson of the successful Indian-slayer by hard experience. Therefore, now, it was with
a long, deep scrutiny that he scanned the opposite banks, across the first open piece of landscape he had come on in a
day’s travel. On the opposite bank all was still as death, save for the occasional note of a bird. It was late in May and
the forest was all blinded with its canopy of leaves, while game was distant and hiding in the coverts.
As the young hunter looked, a black squirrel, shyest of all its kind, ran out on a limb of a tree on the other side of the
river, and stood, whisking its tail and chattering, before his eyes, above the stream.
“Wal,” muttered the young man, as he stepped boldly out, “thar kurn’t be much to be skeered on when you’re thar, my
little kuss. Go ahead, Simon.”
Without further ado he descended the bank, deep, brown, and bare, for some sixty feet, and then ran quickly across a
bed of sand into the shallow stream.
The Kentucky river, in winter a broad and powerful stream, had dwindled under the summer heats to a rivulet not more
than two hundred feet across, running over a sandy rocky bed walled in by high banks.
Into this stream waded the hunter, and soon found himself midway between the banks and up to his armpits in water.
He was obliged to lift up rifle and powder-horn over his head as he waded along, and every now and then he would
stop to brace himself against the current, and glance anxiously up and down either side of the river, as if anticipating the
presence of enemies, ready to take him at advantage.
At last the water began to sink below his arms; and slowly he emerged from the river, strode through the shallows, and
stood on the opposite shore.
“By the holy poker!” he muttered, as he climbed the further bank, “that ar’s a bad scrape fur to ketch a kuss in. You’d
best git to cover right smartly, Simon, ef you’re the spy you used to was. Git!”
And, as he spoke, he hurried up the bank into the woods, and threw himself down under a tree, completely hidden from
sight. With the hunter’s instinct, he lay still as death, listening intently for sounds. The presence of the squirrel had
assured him of the quiet of things before, or he would not have ventured where he did. But, the hunter knew too well
that a very few minutes were able to change the whole current of events around him, and that the chance passing of a
single Indian might render his own situation very perilous.
It was therefore with the keenest attention that he looked and listened in the woods all round, before going further.
Presently came the sweet pipe of a red-bird from a tree not far off, and the hunter muttered:
“All right on that side.”
He knew the note, as belonging to one of the most wary of birds. Then several other birds chirped at intervals, and he
heard the tiny chatter of squirrels all round him.
“Simon, you blamed ornary kuss, I reckon you kin git,” said the hunter deliberately, and he rose to his feet.
Hardly had he done so, when he sunk down again as if shot, for the loud snap of a dry stick sounded plainly in the air,
and it came from the further bank of the river.
“Follered, by the holy poker!” he ejaculated, in a low tone. “Now, who the Old Scratch kin that be?”
As he spoke he threw himself down behind the tree, and, bringing all his intelligence to bear on the north bank, which he
had just left, awaited the advance of the stranger.
There was no more noise now. The other, whoever he was, had evidently been startled by his own carelessness. Apart
from the snapping of that single stick, there was no further sign of human presence on the north bank.
The man on the south bank lay there watching silently and eagerly, but saw nothing. The usual noises of the woods kept
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on around him, and he could see squirrels moving on the other side of the river.
There was a small deserted space on either side of him, and a patch of the same breadth on the opposite side that
showed him that the wild animals were shy of human creatures, and revealed to him the locality of his enemy.
In those two places all were still, and, as unerringly as if he had seen the strange hunter, Simon guessed that the latter
had come to the identical tree by which himself had first scanned the river.
“And by the holy poker, ef that’s so, the kuss kin see my trail,” he grumbled, half aloud. “Simon, Simon, you orter be
ashamed of yourself fur leavin’ them huff-tracks in the mud, when ye mout ’a’ jumped from stone to stone.”
Even while he grumbled, his eyes were fixed on the great beech tree, and the heavy Kentucky rifle he carried was
trained on its bole, while he watched with intense gaze for a motion of the foe he guessed to be there.
Suddenly he shifted his gaze and aim to a point on one side of the tree, and fired at something moving there.
Leaping to one side out of the smoke, he distinctly beheld the splinters of bark fly where his bullet struck, and the next
moment felt the stinging whiz of a bullet, that grazed his own side, as an answering puff of white smoke came from the
other side of the tree, followed by the sharp crack of a rifle. The bullet stung him sharply, and he dropped to the earth,
catching a glimpse of the vanishing figure of a man on the other side of the river, flitting from tree to tree.
“By the holy poker, that’s a right smart kuss, whoever he is,” muttered Simon, ruefully, as he rubbed his side, “Who’d
’a’ thunk he’d ’a’ fooled me as quick as that, and with sich an old trick. By the holy poker, Simon, you’d better go and
soak your head ef you ain’t smarter than that kuss. But, I’ll get even with him. Darn me ef he shall fool me ag’in like
that. No, sir. Mister stranger, be you white or red, runnygade or Shawnee, I’ll hev your skulp fur that ar’ shot, or my
name ain’t Simon Kenton.”
And the renowned ranger darted from tree to tree on his passage up the river, following the shadowy form of his
antagonist, as he caught occasional glimpses of it, and both tending toward a spot a mile further up the stream, where a
wooded island reduced the danger of crossing to a less degree.
The two enemies raced for that island, loading as they ran.
[12]
CHAPTER II.
THE ISLAND.
In ten minutes more, Kenton reached a bend of the river, in the midst of which stood the little wooded island at which
he thought his foe would be likely to try to cross. At that turn he made a discovery which caused him to stop with a
gratified chuckle.
He was on the inside of the curve, and the position of the island was such that he commanded the whole of the further
side. No human being could cross there by daylight without being seen by an observer at the center of the curve.
Besides this, he could see the further bank of the river beyond for nearly two miles, and his enemy would be obliged to
make a large detour if he expected to cross at all. That he wished to cross, the hunter felt certain, but he had totally
gone out of sight now, and the opposite shore looked as silent and deserted as when Kenton first entered the river.
“By the holy poker, I’ve got ye, middlin’ sure,” muttered the ranger, gleefully. “Ef ye try to move off, I’m arter ye, like a
painter arter a young shoat. Ef ye stay thar, durn me ef I kurn’t wait as long as you kin. So now.”
He sheltered himself under a great spreading tree and lay there watching the opposite shore. He knew well enough that
his enemy had not gone thence. The practiced senses of the hunter would have detected a moving figure, however it
tried to shelter itself among the trees; and moreover, the scouts of nature, the free wild creatures of the forest, served
by their actions to indicate the whereabouts of each foe to the other, well used as both were to reading the open book
of nature.
From various indications, Kenton came to the conclusion that his enemy was lying down behind the gnarled roots of a
huge old oak at the edge of the bank opposite the end of the island; and Kenton was right.
There behind that tree lay his wily foe, watching the very tree at which Simon was posted. As far as woodcraft went, it
was diamond cut diamond with the two.
Presently Simon chuckled to himself, as a thought struck him.
“Now ef that ar’s a Shawnee hunter, mebbe I kin fool him yit. He don’t know who the Old Scratch I am, and ef I give
a Shawnee signal mebbe he’ll show.”
The hunter rose to his feet behind the tree, and shouted the Shawnee war-cry with the full force of his lungs.
It was instantly answered from the other side of the river, by the peculiar whoop of the Miamis.
In the same instant Simon stuck his cap on the end of his rifle and protruded it from behind his tree.
Hardly had he done so when a bullet whizzed through the cap, with an accuracy of aim that surprised even him.
The ranger stepped from behind the tree, and leveled his rifle at the white puff of smoke on the other side of the river.
He saw the form of a man vanish as he fired, and was greeted with a derisive whoop of scorn.
Kenton sunk back to his old position to reload, muttering: “By the holy poker, mister, thur bean’t no discount on you fur
a warrior. Kurn’t fool that kuss. He must ’a’ seen the cap. That skulp’s wuth hav’in’. Reckon it must be old Blackfish
or Otter Lifter hisself. No common brave c’u’d be as smart as that.”
It certainly seemed as if matters were at a dead lock. Two shots had been fired by Simon Kenton, the best marksman
of the border, after Boone, and each had brought nothing but a return as close as his own.
Reckless as the nature of the ranger was, he began to think that he couldn’t afford to try any more risks with such a foe.
The chances were too evenly balanced. He threw himself down in a place whence he could command a good view of
the north bank, and determined to wait. He was well aware that night would surely bring things to a crisis and end the
suspense. For darkness he determined to wait, resolved not to give his foe another chance.
For at least an hour all was profoundly still, and not a motion on either bank betrayed the presence of the two wily
antagonists. Then Simon Kenton started violently and muttered to himself:
“By the holy poker, what’s that?”
There was a distinct rustling of trees and bushes on the little island in the river.
“Is that kuss the devil himself?” queried Simon, wonderingly. “How in the Old Scratch did he get thar?”
The sound of rustling increased on the island, and at last the ranger saw a bush move.
Crack went his rifle on the instant.
It was blended with a report from the opposite side of the river, and Kenton saw the white smoke curl up from the very
place whence his foe had not stirred.
But where went that bullet?
The question was answered ere asked.
Both foemen had arrived at the island, and a shower of splintered bark and twigs flew up from the midst of the bush at
which both marksmen had aimed!
A loud shriek, in the unmistakable tones of a woman, rose from the island, and the rustling of bushes became violent, as
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[14]
[15]
some one fell back into cover.
Then all was still again.
Simon rubbed his eyes. For a moment he was so bewildered that he forgot to reload his rifle.
“By the holy poker, it’s a gal on the island, and we must ’a’ nigh shot her!” he ejaculated, aloud. “Wal, ef this don’t
beat cockfightin’, I’m durned. So now!”
The words seemed to relieve him in some way, for the hunter-instinct returned, and he proceeded to reload his rifle.
But as he loaded, he muttered:
“Simon, Simon, go home and soak your head for a durned fool! Three shots fired, and nary hit. What would Boone say
ef he knowed it. By the holy poker, I’d as soon face Old Scratch as face the cunnel arter this bout, ef I don’t git that
kuss’s sculp. So now.”
He rammed home the bullet with a vicious thump as he said this, and resumed his weary watch. The situation had
become more complicated.
A woman was on that island, a white woman, or she would not have shrieked. The squaw is well-nigh as stoical in
danger as her warrior husband.
On the other side the river was a merciless savage, who would not hesitate to scalp her if he got a chance. In a moment
the native chivalry of the Kentuckian was up in arms, and his face assumed an expression of grim ferocity, such as few
men would have cared to face, as he scanned the opposite shore, muttering, as he clenched his rifle:
“Now may I never fire a shot ag’in as long as I live, ef I let you git your claws on that gal, Mister Stranger. Sink or swim
I’m a-goin’ fur her jest as soon as it’s dark, an’ ef thar ain’t some clawin’ o’ wool on that there island about the time we
git there, wallop me for a skunk. So now.”
He remained at his post, watching his enemy’s tree with a sleepless vigilance and ferocity, that told how much in earnest
he was. Hour after hour passed; the sun sunk down to the west and fell behind the curtain of forest; the dark shadows
sloped weirdly across the tree-trunks; the deer flitted about through the aisles of the woods, unconscious of the two
statue-like figures that lay on the ground, each watching his enemy’s lair like a lurking tiger; squirrel and bird, cicada and
snake, fox and rabbit, wandered about the vicinity perfectly undisturbed; for the two men lay so still that the animals had
come to the conclusion they must be dead. Then at last the twilight faded into darkness, and the river and banks
became indistinct. Suddenly Kenton leaped to his feet and dashed through the cover to a narrow place opposite the
island. He used no caution, for now the island sheltered him from view entirely. But, as he dashed into the water, he
heard his enemy thunder along on the opposite bank, and knew that it would be a race for the island.
[16]
CHAPTER III.
THE MEETING.
The sturdy ranger uttered a fierce war-whoop, and struggled through the deep water toward the island.
At the place where he was, the stream was only some twenty feet broad, but, it was swimming deep and quite rapid.
On the other side it was five times as broad, but much more shallow, so that his opponent would have that advantage
over him. Still, being on the arc of a circle, the distance to be traversed was much greater, and reduced the chances to
evenness.
Simon Kenton leaped into the current, rifle in hand, and sunk over his head in a moment, striking out for the opposite
shore with desperate energy. Twice the strong current carried him down, and twice he touched a rock and shoved
against it so vigorously that he nearly reached the opposite shore. Each time, the weight of his long rifle ducked his head
and nearly strangled him, while the struggle became fiercer than ever.
At last, just as he was passing the end of the island, he caught a friendly bough and dragged himself up to shore with
dripping weapons, just as he caught sight of the dark figure of his enemy about the middle of the stream in the shallows,
but up to his waist in water.
Simon Kenton uttered the Shawnee war-whoop once more and tore through the brushwood to intercept his foe.
“Now, ye ornary kuss, I’ve got ye, by the holy poker!” he growled savagely, as he stood on the bank above, and
leveled his rifle at the other.
Click! fizz! sput!
The soaked powder missed fire, and Kenton uttered a savage growl as he flung the heavy rifle with all his force at his
opponent, who was just raising his own weapon to fire back.
The ranger’s rifle hit the other as it went off, with such violence, that the man in the water staggered, slipped in the
current, and fell back splashing and going under.
“Now we’re even, durn your painted hide!” yelled the irate Kenton, as he made one tremendous bound off the high
bank into the water, drawing his knife as he leaped.
In another moment two strong men were grappling in water nearly up to their armpits, each having a knife in his right
hand, and grasping his antagonist’s wrist with his left.
They tripped and stumbled, wrestled and struggled in grim silence, both being equally matched in strength and agility,
and fighting with the deadliest ferocity. Twice they went under water, and stumbled up without relaxing their gripe, and
still neither had gained the least advantage.
At last, almost at the same moment, Kenton and his foe wrenched away from each other to regain breath, and stood
panting and glaring at each other for several seconds at about six feet apart.
The Kentuckian was the first to speak.
“You’re a tough cuss, stranger, I don’t deny it; but you and me’s got to settle this hyar business afore we go home, and
by the holy poker, you kurn’t sculp that gal, ef you’re Blackfish hisself. So now.”
The stranger had been entirely silent so far in the struggle. As Kenton finished, he put out one hand and said:
“Simon, is that you? Well, this is a good story.”
The voice of the stranger was deep and powerful; he spoke better English than Kenton, and the latter seemed to
recognize the tones in a moment.
The ranger sprung back in the water, with a cry of wonder, and shouted out:
“Gee-Christopher-cricket-and-blue-blazes! Wal, ef we arn’t be’n a couple of durndest jack-mules this side of ole
Virginny. By the holy poker, it’s Cunnel Boone!”
Daniel Boone himself indulged in a short laugh, instantly checked, as he quietly said:
“And I took you for a Shawnee scout, Kenton, and thought you wanted to scalp the girl on the island. Well, well.”
Not another word passed between the two famous hunters, so strangely met, for some time. They returned their knives
in silence, groped about in the water with their moccasined feet, and discovered their rifles, with which they slowly
landed on the island, both buried in curious cogitations.
They ascended the bank together and entered the thick cover of bushes before either of them spoke, and then Kenton,
in a sort of sheepish tone, said:
“’Twon’t do to tell this story too permiskus, cunnel, I reckon. I’m clean ashamed o’ myself fur not pluggin’ ye, when ye
give me such a chance. I war a-sayin’ to myself, what would cunnel say ef he knowed I’d made sich a show o’ myself
to a Injun varmint, leave alone a white man, and sich a white man as you, cunnel.”
Boone again uttered one of his low laughs.
“To tell you the truth, Simon, I was thinking that I was the man to feel ashamed. You never saw me, and you put two
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holes into my old cap, for all that. I saw you, and missed you. Simon, I thank God for my erring hand.”
There was a short silence, both hunters being busily employed in drawing the charges from their wet rifles, and wiping
the same. Then Kenton spoke, with a curious mingling of pride and regret in his voice, hesitating in a manner not usual
with the reckless borderer.
“Then ye don’t think I did so bad arter all, cunnel. I swow I feel amazin’ glad I didn’t hit yer, but still—ye don’t think I
acted like a greeny—eh, cunnel?”
“You did what no other woodman in Kentucky could do, Simon. You fooled Daniel Boone,” said the elder hunter, in a
grave tone. “I didn’t believe it lay in ye, and I don’t want to meet ye again in such a fashion. But one thing we forget.
There’s a white woman on this island, and we have to find her; and, besides that, we haven’t a dry thread till we light a
fire. Take one side the island, and I’ll take the other, and hunt till we find her.”
The young ranger raised his hand to his cap in a military salute, as he turned away.
“All right, cunnel. We’ll git her.”
The two hunters moved off on either side of the island in a circuit, which speedily brought them face to face at the upper
end, for there was not more than an acre of ground embraced in its limits.
Neither of them had come across any traces of a human being.
Again they turned and searched in the opposite direction, moving cautiously and stopping frequently to listen for the
rustle of bushes. At last it became plain that the former occupant of the island, whoever it might be, had decamped in
some manner, probably during the noise and confusion of their struggle in the river. At all events, she was not to be
found, and the two hunters gave up the search in their second round.
It was altogether too dark to trail, and both concluded to wait till morning for the purpose. Meantime a fire was kindled
in the midst of a dense thicket in the middle of the island, screened on all sides by brushwood, and made of dry punk
gathered from a rotten fallen tree. Then, by the side of the glowing embers, the wearied hunters dried clothes and arms,
cleaned their guns, and consulted on their future movements, after detailing to each other the results of their separate
scouts through the Shawnee hunting-grounds, up to the time when they had so unexpectedly met on the banks of the
Kentucky.
It took but a little time to exchange news, and then both composed themselves to slumber, with their feet to the fire, and
slept till the first streaks of dawn appeared in the eastern sky.
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CHAPTER IV.
RUBY ROLAND.
Simon Kenton was the first to wake in the morning. Instead of experiencing the usual feeling of chilliness which assails
the camper-out in the early hours by a dying fire, he was sensible of a glowing and comfortable warmth at his feet, and
his eyes opened on the leaping white flames of a pleasant fire, the brands crackling merrily, as if lately put on.
“By the holy poker, cunnel,” quoth the borderer, rubbing his eyes and stretching, “you’re ahead of me this hyar mornin’.
Wal, let’s get up and make tracks.”
As he spoke, he yawned portentously, and sat up, only to fall back the next moment with a loud exclamation of:
“Who in the Old Scratch be you, anyhow?”
Boone lay fast asleep opposite, and by the fire, between them, sat a young girl, looking intently at Kenton.
“I am Ruby Roland,” said one of the sweetest voices he had ever heard; and the girl smiled in his face, fearlessly.
Simon Kenton slowly rose up to a sitting posture and stared at the new-comer in utter amazement, just as Boone also
awoke, and rolling half over, fixed his steady gaze on the girl, but without exhibiting the surprise displayed by Kenton.
The girl was a little creature of some seventeen summers, with a dark, foreign-looking face, very pretty, lighted with
black eyes, and set off with black hair, arranged in two long plaits. She was attired in the costume of an Indian chief’s
daughter, of the richest materials in use among the Shawnees, and carried with her a bow and arrows.
First Simon drew in his feet, and sat up in a more polite position, then Daniel Boone slowly rose and sat looking at the
strange maiden; and then a deep silence fell on all three, which was first broken by the girl who called herself Ruby
Roland.
“You two are Simon Kenton and Colonel Boone, are you not?” she asked, in her musical voice, slightly accented with a
French intonation.
Boone himself answered her with great respect:
“We are, Miss. I am Colonel Daniel Boone, and this is Captain Simon Kenton.”
The Kentucky borderers were always remarkably tenacious of their military titles, and very proud of them. In reality
they represented deeds requiring courage and conduct of a kind such as few regular soldiers could have boasted of.
Ruby Roland smiled graciously on the two Kentuckians.
“I suppose, then, you will not be afraid to run into danger on my account, will you? I warn you that a deadly peril is
round us all three, which you can only escape by leaving me to face it alone. Will you do that?”
“Simon Kenton will not, madam; I will answer for that,” said the quiet voice of Boone.
“And Cunnel Boone ’ll let the red varmints chaw him up ter fiddle-strings, afore he deserts a lady. I’ll go a house and
farm on that. So now,” was Kenton’s characteristic reply.
Ruby smiled at them both as she said:
“I knew I was not wrong. You have heard of Tabac, the Grand Door of the Wabash. I am his daughter.”
Kenton looked more and more astonished. He scratched his head in a dubious manner, and observed:
“Then, by the holy poker, Miss, all I kin say is that the Grand Door opens into a very pretty place; but—”
Ruby smiled as he hesitated.
“But you wonder how I come to talk English so well, and how I come here; is it not so?”
“Wal, Miss, I ain’t denyin’ that same,” said Kenton, frankly.
“I will tell you, then. The Grand Door is not my own father. No, alas! he died when I was a baby. But, I have been
adopted by the chief since then, and my mother reigned over all the tribes of the Wabash till her death, last year. It was
only six weeks ago when I escaped from the Indian town by St. Vincent’s, and came here. Gentlemen, I want to see
Colonel George Rogers Clark.”
Both the scouts uttered an involuntary exclamation of wonder, the first that had escaped the lips of Boone.
“Colonel Clark is at Harrodsburg, Miss,” said the elder hunter, gravely; “and we shall find it difficult to penetrate there,
for Blackfish, the Shawnee chief, is round it with his band.”
Ruby Roland smiled with some little appearance of scorn.
“My father was a French officer, and I am the adopted child of the first war-chief of the West,” she said. “I suppose
you think you could get into Harrodsburg, do you not?”
“I suppose so, Miss,” said Boone, quietly.
“Very well; then I will go with you,” said this little fragile-looking girl, with equal calmness. “You are both good warriors
and scouts, and yet I fooled you both last night.”
[21]
[22]
